In spite of the restrictions imposed by the government, there seems to be no let-up in the recruitment of nurses by private agencies to hospitals abroad. On Monday, reports emerged about a private agency recruiting nurses to the Kuwait Health Ministry after taking the candidates to Dubai on visit visas.

About 1,500 nurses were reported to have appeared for the written test, carried out allegedly by one of the key accused in the nurses’ recruitment scam in Kerala. Official sources said the agency conducting the examination had charged a fee of Rs.30 lakh, which is Rs.10 lakh higher that the service fee they had charged earlier. The recruitment drive, which started on Monday, is slated to continue till October 3.

“The agency has already collected job applications from a large number of nurses and is arranging them flight tickets and visit visa through select travel agencies. This will help them evade a March 12 order by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs banning the recruitment of nurses in 18 countries through private agencies’’, they explained.

Following the directive, there had been a standstill in recruitment of nurses to hospitals in Kuwait over the last four months. It is still uncertain how the recruited nurses will get emigration clearance, as stipulated by the Union government, before joining their jobs.

Confirming the report, a NoRKA official said the issue has already been brought to the attention of the Protector Of Emigrants’ office. “There is no way by which we can prevent this flow unless the candidates are cooperating’’, the official said.